| Penalty points double for speeding drivers
Motorists face being banned from driving for only two speeding offences under a government plan to double the fixed penalty for exceeding the limit by a wide margin, The Times has learnt. Those caught driving at 45mph or above in a 30mph limit are likely to receive a higher-rate fixed penalty of six points and a £100 fine, up from the existing flat rate of three points and a £60 fine. Ministers want to send the message that excessive speeding will lead more quickly to an automatic six-month driving ban for totting up 12 points within three years. More than 1.1 million drivers have six or more points on their licences and, under the new law, could be banned immediately for one more offence. .
Cullen: Partners in sustainability
Address to Federated Farmers National Council Conference, Icon Room, Te Papa, Cable St, Wellington. 10:00AM Tuesday 20 November 2007.
Good morning and thank you for that introduction. Federated Farmers do not need me to tell you that this is a very important time for New Zealand’s farmers. Our agricultural sector is changing and growing rapidly. Rising international commodity prices – not least of all for dairy – are providing new opportunities for farmers to invest in the expansion and improvement of their operations. The threat of global climate change is forcing the entire agricultural sector to think about how we will cope with rising temperatures and extreme weather patterns into the future. Global trade talks remain a source of frustration, but the real potential for major progress on eroding protectionism remains.
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Ultimately this would be the best plan for all involved. If it could work there could be prosperity for both Serbia and Kosovo. The problem is that this is mostly what Kosovo had before Milosevic. Serbia has done very little to show the International community that history would not repeat itself, or for that matter that this is not offered in hopes that once the international guard is down then they will finish the job Milosevic started. With such high nationalist sentiment and the fact that Serbia is always only one election away from restoring the old regime to power and the hatred toward the Albanian people, it is not something it would be wise to endorse. (skipp5, 21 November 2007 09:49) .
UK lawyer ridicules Princess Di ‘conspiracy’
A LONDON police lawyer ridiculed suggestions that Princess Diana died as a result of a conspiracy, arguing yesterday that no one would attempt such a plan in front of the pack of photographers trailing the princess and her boyfriend. A police investigator testifying at the inquest in the death of Diana and Dodi Fayed agreed, calling any such plan a �nonstarter�. Fayed�s father, Mohamed al Fayed, has claimed that the couple died as a result of a plot directed by Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, and carried out by rogue intelligence agents. On Wednesday, Michael Mansfield, an attorney representing al Fayed, offered a hypothetical scenario in which two cars might have deliberately blocked both westbound lanes inside the Pont d�Alma tunnel, where the couple�s car crashed into a concrete pillar on August 31, 1997.
Chinadaily.com.cn sharing the Olympic spirit
More than 200 Beijing Olympics cheer-squad volunteers listened carefully to a sports expert explaining the finer points of basketball. The associate professor from Capital Institute of Physical Education talked about its history, the rules and the etiquette of watching the game, made hugely popular in China by Yao Ming. "When the US coach asked: 'When would China's basketball players catch up with the US team?' the Chinese coach answered: 'When the US ping-pong team plays as well as our team'." Laughter erupted among the group, which included Jia Shuying, a 60-year-old woman who was part of last Friday's special cheer-squad gathering. She did not go to work that day, and instead rode her bicycle to her neighborhood residence committee to attend the meeting. Like everybody in the room, she donned a white cap and pink T-shirt, which had "Cheering from Beijing workers" written on the front.
Time for a hysterical overreaction
We've been having an argument in the office and I'd like you to settle it. On their side is sweet reason and a sense of proportion. On my side? I think the maths is on my side. The question is this - how seriously should we take the latest fiasco at the Home Office? I'll put my basic case quite briefly. My faith in airport security has never been the same since I noticed that the man confiscating the shaving foam in my hand luggage (while leaving me with the razor) had the word HATE tatooed on his knuckles. But, call me naive if you like, I did imagine that security staff cleared by the Government's Security Industry Authority had been properly checked. Otherwise, what's the point of all that queueing and "Would you mind if I looked in your bag, Sir"? Now it turns out that the checks are a sham.
Oxford students disrupt David Irving debate - Summary
London - Angry student demonstrators forced their way Monday into an Oxford Union debating hall, disrupting an event at which the controversial historian David Irving was due to speak. Irving, who is British, has repeatedly denied the Holocaust and served a prison term in Austria for the offence. Police said that a group of about 30 students were staging a sit- in inside the debating hall of the renowned Oxford Union, which is attached to Oxford University. A hard core of some 30 protestors, singing and chanting anti- fascist slogans, stopped the debate from getting under way, reports said. They had broken away from up to 500 protestors and scaled a wall to force their way into the building, shouting "shame on you" and "fascists out." Irving and Nick Griffin, leader of Britain's racist British National Party (BNP), had arrived hours before the evening event to be escorted into the building.
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